1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a travel safety system for a vehicle, which is designed so that an object is detected by an object detecting means mounted on the vehicle, and when there is a possibility that the vehicle comes into contact with the object, the safety system is actuated to avoid the contact.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 11-23705 discloses a conventional travel safety system, in which an object existing in a travel direction of a subject vehicle is detected by a radar device, the presence or absence of a possibility of contact between the subject vehicle and the object is determined based on an overlap amount (an avoiding steerage amount) in a vehicle-width direction, and when it is determined that there is the possibility of contact, a warning or an automatic braking is carried out to avoid the contact of the subject vehicle with the object.
However, in the conventional travel safety system, in such a case where the subject vehicle or a preceding vehicle has changed its course to traverse a traffic lane, if the preceding vehicle temporarily traverses the course of the subject vehicle to generate an overlap amount in a vehicle-width direction, it is determined that there is a possibility that the subject vehicle comes into contact with the preceding vehicle, leading to a possibility that the warning or the automatic braking is carried out. If the overlap amount is generated just for a moment in this way, then the warning or the automatic braking is carried out although the possibility of contact is actually low, resulting in a problem that a driver feels a sense of discomfort or vexation.